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Uncle Tom's Cabin

American  

noun

  1. an antislavery novel (1852) by Harriet Beecher Stowe.


Uncle Tom's Cabin Cultural  
  1. (1852) A novel, first published serially, by Harriet Beecher Stowe; it paints a grim picture of life under slavery. The title character is a pious, passive slave, who is eventually beaten to death by the overseer Simon Legree.


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Published shortly before the Civil War, Uncle Tom's Cabin won support for the antislavery cause.

Although Stowe presents Uncle Tom as a virtuous man, the expression “Uncle Tom” is often used as a term of reproach for a subservient black person who tolerates discrimination.

Example Sentences

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Montgomery buys home that inspired novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin"

From Washington Post Feb. 25, 2022

All in all, "The Jungle" ranks alongside Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1852 anti-slavery novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin" as one of the most politically influential works of literature in American history.

From Salon Oct. 17, 2021

The attack infuriated Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of the international best-seller Uncle Tom’s Cabin and a friend of Annabella’s.

From Slate Dec. 4, 2018

Southern critics denounced Uncle Tom’s Cabin as dangerous rubbish, but millions of northerners embraced the book itself and the traveling stage versions that soon crisscrossed their section.

From Textbooks Jan. 18, 2018

The law leads to angry protests and inspires Harriet Beecher Stowe to write a serialized novel that will become Uncle Tom's Cabin.

From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis

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